HV 995 
.P5 085 
1845 
Copy 1 



HuiUfc StaUs 



?iasstmi Zitetttct of DeunesttKittte, 



SS. 



CONSTITUTION 



OF THS 



PHILADELPHIA ORPHAN SOCIETY. 



CONSTITUTION 



PHILADELPHIA ORPHAN SOCIBTV: 



WITH 



RULES FOR THE REGULATION 



OF 



THE BOARD OF MANAGERS 



AND 



THE ASYLUM. 



^ PHILADELPHIA: 
REPRINTED BY LYDIA R. BAILEY 

NO. 26 NORTH FIFTH ST. 
1845. 






\t 



*s 



To rescue from ignorance, idleness and vice, destitute, un- 
protected and helpless children, and to provide for them that 
support and instruction which may eventually render them valu- 
able members of the community, an association has been formed, 
and denominated "The Orphan Society of Philadelphia," for 
the government of which the following Constitution has been 
adopted. 

CONSTITUTION. 

Article I. 
Every female becoming a member of this Society shall pay 
an annual contribution of two dollars, or by paying the sum of 
thirty dollars, shall be a member for life. 

Article II. 
The Society shall meet on the first Tuesday of January, in 
every year; at which meeting, fifteen members shall be compe- 
tent to transact business. At this meeting there shall be cho- 
sen twenty-four Managers, in whom the whole concerns of the 
Society shall be vested. 

Article III. 
The Managers shall meet (being duly notified by the offici- 
ating Secretary) within three days after their election, and shall 
choose a First and Second Directress, a Secretary and a Trea- 
surer. They shall make By-Laws for their own government? 
make an annual report of their proceedings, and give two 
weeks' previous notice of the meeting of the Society. 

Article IV. 
Every alteration in this Constitution must be proposed at a 
meeting preceding the one of its adoption. 



RULES FOR THE REGULATION 



BOARD OF MANAGERS 



1st. The original rules, as printed in the report of 1815, shall 
be continued, viz: "The managers shall meet on the first Tues- 
"day of every month, at such time and place as they shall ap- 
*' point. 

"Five of the managers shall form a quorum for the transac- 
tion of all business. 

"Every meeting shall be opened with reading a portion of 
"Scripture, succeeded by a pause for mental supplication. 

"No person shall be at liberty to withdraw from the board 
" without permission ; and no conversation, but such as relates 
"to business, shall be allowed. 

"A fine of twenty-five cents shall be incurred for non-attend- 
"ance at each meeting, unless satisfactory reasons be given. 

"All reports of committees shall be in writing." 

2d. Business shall commence precisely half an hour after 
the time appointed for meeting. 

3d. Every motion, when made, shall be stated from the 
chair; when seconded, the Directress shall invite discussion 
upon the subject; after which, she shall ask if the members are 
ready for the question; which being assented to, the votes shall 
be taken ; first in the affirmative, and next in the negative. No 
other business shall be taken up by the Board, or discussed by 
any of the members, until that which has thus been laid before 
them, be decided or postponed. 



4th. At the desire of any member of the Board, the decision 
of a new question may be deferred to the meeting succeeding 
that at which the question was proposed. 

5th. The decision of any question shall not be delayed longer 
than the succeeding meeting, except by a majority of votes. 

6th. No former resolution shall be reconsidered, unless called 
for by one of the majority, and shall in all cases be deferred to 
the next meeting, either special or stated, for decision. 

7th. When the votes are called for, no person shall be allowed 
to decline voting. 

8th. Upon motion made and seconded, the names of the yeas 
and nays shall be recorded on the minutes. 

9th. The First Directress shall have a vote as manager, and 
give a casting vote when the board is equally divided. 

10th. No person shall decline acting on a committee, unless 
another member, approved by the First Directress, shall be 
willing to serve in her stead. 

11th. The member first named on a committee, shall preside 
over it, shall give notice of the time and place of meeting, and 
make the report of their proceedings. 

12th. The First EMrectress shall call extra meetings as often 
as she may think proper, but shall not be obliged to call them 
contrary to her own judgment^ unless five members of the 
board shall concur in requesting it* 

13th. When extra meetings are called? the object of the meet- 
ing shall be mentioned in the notices, and no question shall be 
decided at a special meeting, unless special notice of the object 
has been given to every manager. 

14th. The seal of the society shall not be affixed to any pa- 
per, without the vote of the board having been taken on it. 

15th. The business of each stated meeting shall commence 
with the Secretary's reading the minutes of the preceding meet- 
ing, the reports of the committees, (which if not presented 
must be called for by the Directress,) and the Treasurer's re- 
port. The weekly committees for the ensuing month shall then 



be named, and the orders on the Treasurer voted. If any 
child has been admitted into the Asylum, the Directress shall 
then appoint the member who is to take charge of it, who shall 
not be permitted to refuse the charge, unless some other mem- 
ber be particularly desirous of supplying her place. The Direct- 
ress shall then ask whether there is any new business requiring 
immediate discussion. If any member knows of such, she shall 
make it known, and it shall then be at the option of the Direct- 
ress to enter upon it, or to finish the business remaining from 
the last meeting, as she may deem most expedient. 

16th. The board shall not rise until the time and place of 
adjournment be distinctly made known. 

17th. At the first meeting of the board in January, the stand- 
ing committees shall be appointed, viz. the weekly committees 
of two, for the year, which shall be inserted by the Secretary 
in the minute book of the committee ; the purchasing commit- 
tee; the committee of admission; the binding committee; the 
school committee ; the church committee, which shall consist 
of eight ladies, of different religious denominations. 



DUTIES OF THE MANAGERS 



The First Directress shall preside at the meetings of the 
managers, preserve order, appoint all committees unless other- 
wise directed, and call special meetings of the board. She 
sjiali be ex-officio, one of the binding committee. She shall 
furnish every new manager with a book, containing in print, 
the constitution, the rules for the regulation of the board, the 
duties of the managers, and the rules for the government of the 
Asylum; to which shall be added the names of the children 
under her care, the situations of those who are bound out, and 
the period at which they will be free. When a manager re- 
signs her seat in the board, she is to return this book to the 
First Directress, who will make it over to her successor. In 
the absence of the First Directress, the Second shall preside, 
and if both be absent, a person shall be chosen from among 
the members 'present to preside at the meeting. 

The Secretary shall summon the meetings of the managers, 
keep a fair and correct record of all their proceedings, a regis- 
ter of the children such as is now used, and do all other wri- 
ting not connected with the office of the Treasurer or the 
business of committees. She shall be, ex-officio, one of the 
committee of admission. 

The Treasurer shall hold the evidences of property belong- 
ing to the Society, receive all moneys, and deposit the same at 
a bank in her name as treasurer ; make payments agreeably to 
the orders of the managers, keep a fair account of all receipts 
and expenditures, which account shall at all times be open to 
the inspection of the managers. She shall furnish a monthly 
abstract of her receipts and expenditures, and of the balance 
remaining in her hands, and prepare a statement to be laid 
before the society at their Annual Meeting. 



The Weekly Committees shall visit the Asylum not less than 
three times during their week, shall endeavour to be present 
once at each meal, and if possible, during one morning and one 
afternoon's school hours. They shall observe if the children 
and the concerns of the house generally are properly regu- 
lated, and report their observations in the Minute Book; which 
book, on the last day of their week, is to be sent to the succeed- 
ing committee, for which purpose a list of the committees is to 
be kept in the book. The committees shall act upon their own 
judgment in all cases requiring immediate attention, but any 
permanent alteration in the rules of the family must be by vote 
of the board. 

The Purchasing Committee shall make all purchases neces- 
sary for the family, pay all bills, and present a quarterly ac- 
count of their proceedings to the board. 

The Committee of Admission shall be regulated in their 
duties by the following rules. 

No child shall be admitted into the Asylum who has any de- 
formity of person, without consulting the Board. 

No boy above six years of age, and no girl above eight, 
shall be admitted without consulting the Board. 

No child shall be admitted without having been examined by 
one of the regular physicians of the institution; nor shall the 
matron admit any child without an order from one of the com- 
mittee. The committee shall make their report to the board 
every month; and all admissions, with such information as can 
be procured, shall be registered in the book kept by the secre- 
tary for that purpose. 

The Binding Committee shall be regulated by the follow- 
ing rules, viz. No girl shall be bound out until she can write a 
legible hand, and no boy until he can write, and has received 
instruction in the four first rules of arithmetic, and no child 
younger than twelve years of age, without consulting the 
board; nor shall any child be permitted to be sent out on trial. 
Each child shall have a Bible given to it on leaving the Asy- 



lum. No boy shall be bound as a house-servant, or to a 
tavern-keeper; and no girl shall be bound in a tavern or board- 
ing house. It shall be the duty of the committee to examine 
the children in the months of May and November, to make a 
list of those who are fit to bind out, and report the same to the 
board. They shall at every monthly meeting give a written 
report of the names and situations of those who have been 
bound, which shall be inserted in the register by the secretary, 
who shall also have the care of their indentures. 

The School Committee shall attend particularly to the busi- 
ness of the school, shall examine quarterly into the progress 
of the children, and reward those who are deserving, and shall 
report quarterly to the board. 

The Church Committee shall alternately procure a clergy- 
man to preach at the Asylum, shall make every necessary 
preparation for worship being properly conducted, shall attend 
Divine worship at the Asylum alternately every Sunday, shall 
occasionally visit the Asylum on Sunday evening, and shall 
generally direct the proper mode of giving the children reli- 
gious instruction. 

The duties of theVqnanagers appear to be generally com- 
prised in the foregoing rules, in addition to which it shall be the 
duty of each one, to take an equal division of the children 
under her more particular care, visiting them frequently, and 
endeavouring to instil into them moral and religious principles, 
and encouraging them to an affectionate and confidential inter- 
course. It is believed that by these means, an intimate know- 
ledge of the childrens' habits and dispositions will be obtained, 
and that each child will feel that he or she has a friend who is 
interested in its welfare. It shall also be her duty, when her 
children are bound, to inform herself of their situations, and to 
insert them in her book: if bound in the city, to visit them 
once in three months, and if in the country, to write either to 
the child or its employer once in six months, and to encourage 
the child to write to her. 

B 



RULES 



REGULATION OF THE ASYLUM. 



1. The children and family shall rise at daylight. 

2. As soon as they are dressed, their faces and hands 
washed, and their hair combed, they shall be assembled either 
in the eating room, or school room, as may be most conve- 
nient, when the teacher shall read clearly and distinctly a chap- 
ter in the Bible, and a family prayer, after a form to be given 
by the Managers, the children kneeling during the prayer. 

3. They shall breakfast as soon as the meal can be conve- 
niently prepared, which shall consist of cold milk and sliced 
bread in summer: in winter, the bread shall be cut small, and 
boiling milk poured over it, or of rice and milk, or mush and 
milk. 

4. There shall be a nursery for the use of the children under 
four years old, and a nurse to take charge of them — those 
who are capable of learning their alphabet shall be sent into 
the school room, twice in the morning and twice in the after- 
noon, for not more than half an hour each time; the nursery 
children shall be allowed and encouraged to sleep a short time 
between breakfast and dinner. 

5. They shall dine at twelve o'clock — the dinner shall con- 
sist of beef, veal, or mutton, alternately, with two kinds of 
vegetables and a slice of bread, with an occasional variety of 
salt or smoked meat. On Sunday, instead of the above, they 
shall have bread and butter, or bread and cheese, with apple- 



11 

pies, or puddings. When fruit is cheap and plentiful, they 
shall be indulged with it occasionally, at the discretion of the 
matron — their suppers shall be mush and milk at six o'clock. 
Should the food thus directed be found to disagree with any of 
the children, the matron may substitute any other which she 
finds more suitable to their constitution. 

6. As soon as supper is over, the children shall kneel in 
their places, while the matron or teacher shall read aloud an even- 
ing prayer for the family, after a form to be furnished by t{ie 
managers, after which the teacher shall collect round her such 
children as may have been guilty of improper conduct through 
the day, and shall in a serious and affectionate manner con- 
verse with them on their faults. 

7. No person employed in the family shall on any account 
inflict punishment on the children, except the matron or the 
teacher. 

8. Theft, lying, quarrelling, wilful mischief, idleness, disobe- 
dience, or impertinence to the matron or teacher, must never 
be suffered to go unpunished. 

9. The matron shall say grace before and after every meal, 
in an audible and distinct manner, so that every word shall be 
heard by the children, after a form to be provided by the 
managers. 

10. All the family shall, if possible, be present at morning 
and evening prayer. 

11. The school exercises shall always be concluded by 
singing a hymn. 

12. The childrens 5 linen, aprons, and pocket handkerchiefs 
shall be changed twice a week, their heads combed every day, 
and their whole persons bathed every day in summer in cold 
water, and twice a week in winter in tepid water. 

13. The elder girls, who are retained for the service of the 
house, shall obey implicitly all the directions of the matron, 
and treat her with respect; they ought to show their gratitude 
for the protection they have received, by being industrious, 



12 

good tempered, and modest, and should endeavour in all things 
to set a good example to the younger children. 

14. They shall attend, two at a time, in weekly rotation, 
during the afternoon school hours, and receive instruction with 
the oilier children. 

15. When the management of the family business will admit 
of it, they shall be employed in the evening in sewing, when 
one shall read to the rest, from some useful and instructive 
book from the Asylum Library. 

16. In the seasons when worship is not held at the Asylum, 
half the children shall alternately attend some place of public 
worship every Sunday, accompanied either by the matron or 
one of the females employed in the institution. 

17. The matron shall have a list of the weekly committees 
for the year, and in all cases requiring immediate advice or 
assistance, shall apply to the committee for that week. 

18. The boys shall give any assistance in the family be- 
tween school-hours suitable to their age and strength, but shall 
not be kept out of school for that purpose. 

19. All visitors to retire at nine o'clock in the evening, when 
the house is to be shut up. 

20. The lanthorns in the chamber-entry are to be lighted as 
soon as it is dark, and to remain burning all night, and no other 
light is to be taken into that story; and no light is to be used 
in any room of the principal story except the nursery. 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS { 

021 062 036 



